Campi di battaglia come luoghi di memoria nell’Italia antica (V-I sec. a.C.)

The PRIN 2020 JFC4WR R(esearch) U(nit) 4, based at the University of Salento (Lecce), aims at investigating the topic Battlefields as places of cultural memory in the context of ancient Italy (5th-1st centuries B.C.). The RU 4 activity will collect and analyse all the information provided by a rich blend of historical and archaeological evidence. On the basis of these data, and of theoretical and methodological premises, the research will focus on the ideological and material forms through which the ancient battlefields become places of cultural memory. Particularly, the investigation will deal with some case studies related to memories of military defeats in ancient Rome (Allia, 390 B.C.; Caudine Forks, 321 B.C.; Cannae (216 B.C.) etc. On one hand, in many respects, the research will be connected to a very flourishing line of studies, the so-called Memory Studies; on the other hand, it will come to relate to Battlefield (and Conflict) Archaeology.